History

The "Laszczyki" manor house was constructed by bishop starost Jakub Jaworski, after the latter leased out part of the square of deanery under a contract concluded on 7 March 1788 with priest Jerzy Dobrzański, cathedral canon of Cracow, dean of the collegiate church of Kielce. The rectangular square of deanery was situated along the current Jana Pawła II street, from the walls of the collegiate cemetery (currently the square surrounding the cathedral) to the vegetable garden of bishops of Cracow (currently the park). As of ca. 1700, the southern part of this square, approx. 1/4 of its size, had been occupied by the Głęboczka canonry, and then a similar land plot was leased to Jaworski. In 1818, the lease of the estate was assigned to a daughter of the Jaworski family — Anna Kwiatkowska, after 1838 — to Michał Jakubowski, and in 1866 — to Justyna Lewandowska. In 1866, under new legal regulations, church estates in lease were taken over by the state. In 1882, the Lewandowski family became the owners of the property. The Laszczyk family bought it only in 1911 (the manor house is named after them). The Lewandowski manor house was built on a rectangle plan. Its central part was occupied by a wooden manor house, probably built no later than in 1789. The small yard in front of its façade was flanked already in 1823 by two smaller, utility buildings, with narrower walls arranged along the fence from the street.  On the back, behind the manor house, there was an orchard. In years 1823-1839, the manor house was extended. A brick storage annex was adjoined to the back façade, covering its western section. Wooden utility buildings contained, among other things, cattle sty, woodsheds, carriage house; on the north behind the sty, there was an uncompleted well. Wooden outbuildings, according to the description of 1867, were converted over time into tenant flats (in the northern outbuilding, there was also a granary). The buildings were separated from the street by a wooden fence, referred to in the 20s of the 19th century. In 1867, it was described as a wooden fence with stone pillars, with an entrance gate and a smaller gate next to it. In 1867-1872, the brick and stone storage annex was extended once again. As a result, the one-bay brick and stone part became a little wider from the manor house and slightly protruded from its southern façade. In 1945, the manor house lost its roof during war operations, but inheritors of the Laszczyk family rebuilt it. In 1973 it was taken over and included into municipal assets due to encumbrance on its mortgage stemming from renovation costs. In years 1976-1988, the neglected manor house and the estate were under supervision of the Kielce Health Care Centre. Then, it was taken over by the Kielce Rural Museum, for administrative and exhibition purposes. In the 1980s, only most necessary renovation works were carried out. In years 2006-2011, the manor house was thoroughly renovated and the estate received a new arrangement. Nearly entire building was designated for exhibition purposes.

Description

The complex of "Laszczyki" manor house is located on Wzgórze Zamkowe, on a rectangular plot of land whose narrower side faces Jana Pawła II Street. The ground here is slightly inclined towards south. Nearby, on the southern side behind the fence, there is the estate of the former Głęboczka canonry, on the northern and western side — areas of the former deanery and scholastry. The middle part of the estate is occupied by the manor house — a free-standing, one-storey building made of wood, on a low foundation. The walls are supported on a log structure. A squat cuboid body is covered by a hip roof (multi-pitched roof of Polish type), laid with wood shingles.  Its walls are plastered and shielded with wide roof eaves. The front entrance to the manor house is guarded by a small porch, with a shed on pillars. On the back side, the façade is adjoined by a two-storey, brick and stone former storage annex, covered with a gable roof fused from the back with the roof of the manor house. Fencing from the street is made of brick and wood, and rests on a low brick foundation. It is comprised of bays made of wide and thick boards laid horizontally, framed by brick pillars. The bays, along with the pillars, are covered with wood-shingle roofs. Under the wood-shingle roof of the middle bay, there are two leaves of a wooden gate. 

The building is open to visitors — used entirely for the purposes of museum exhibition.

Compiled by Anna Adamczyk, 14.12.2014 r.

Bibliography

• Adamczyk J. L., Wzgórze Zamkowe w Kielcach, Kielce 1991, pp. 105-107.
• Adamczyk J. L., Wróbel T., Portrety zabytków Kielc, Kielce 2004, pp. 18.
• Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, vol. II: Województwo kieleckie, eds. J. Z. Łoziński, B. Wolff, fasc. 4: Powiat kielecki, compiled by T. Przypkowski, Warszawa 1957, pp. 33-37.
• Rakowski A., Dworek „Laszczyki” w Kielcach 1788-1988, [in:] Kielecka Teka Skansenowska, Kielce 2000, pp. 39.
• Urbański K., Miklaszewska H., Sentymentalne Kielce. Fotografie ze zbiorów Muzeum Narodowego w Kielcach, Kielce 2004, pp. 32-33.